4 - A week to go!

Strictly speaking it's only 6 days to go but I didn't have time to write anything yesterday!
So our route is planned and we know where we are staying. We just have to pack clothes and the car.

Thomas and Pam have got most of their stuff together. They plan on camping so we will need to put a lot of their things in the car to take with us so that they don't have to fly with a tent, sleeping bags, stove etc. 
It's all very exciting!

While I was playing on Google the other day I discovered something very exciting - well, a bit amusing anyway.

Canadians like big things.

Yes that's right, BIG THINGS. 

Canada is literally littered with big things. Statues of everyday things but really big!

Big chairs, big milk cartons, big birds, big animals, big people, big axes - get the picture?
and helpfully there is a website that shows where they all are on a map!
Link to big things website

We have some big things near us. Last year we visited Shelburne and Gary found this big Adirondack chair!

So we thought we should visit lots of big things on our trip. We also think that there may be geocaches near the big things so that will help us to know where to stop and find caches. We have to be selective with our geocaching otherwise we could be stopping every 250m and our progress will become very slow!

This week we have to begin to pack. It's a little like when we did the Camino as we don't know when we will be able to wash our clothes so we need to take things which will dry quickly. But also we are visiting Quebec City so some sophisticated things are needed too!!!!! 

But unlike the Camino we have a car to carry everything in. 

I must say we are both getting cold feet about the amount of driving involved, especially me as I hate driving. (What were we thinking?) 

I know, it is kind of obvious, but Canada is so BIG!

But there are so many interesting and exciting things to experience too - not to mention geocaches to find and bizarre big things to see

Oh yes, talking about big here's a little big something from our very own Lunenburg water front.

A BIG lobster trap!

3 - A month to go.

Well it's the 3rd May, in a month and a day we will be setting off. Our route is planned and we have places to stay. Thomas and Pam are on the first part of their adventure - they're exploring England, visiting family and,
of course, getting geocaches!
I'm spending this rather wet - but not snowy - day researching important places to explore and trying to locate the geocaches we will pass on our trip.

Our route marked out in green and yellow pins.

Our first stopping point will be Magnetic Mountain in New Brunswick – this is what NB tourism says about it:

'This amazing natural phenomenon has been baffling visitors for over 80 years. Sit back and be amazed as you drive your car to the bottom of Magnetic Hill, take your foot off the brake and roll back uphill - Amazing!'

See - exciting or what!!!!

After a lot of research we decided not to drive through Northern Quebec. Not only is there nowhere to stay but not many petrol stations either, maybe a bit remote and an adventure for another time. Instead we are going to head for the beautiful, and very European, Quebec City and then the Canadian capital city of Ottawa. It will be our first visit the Ottawa and I will be very disappointed if I don't bump into Justin Trudeau!

Then we will take forever to drive across Ontario as it is so big, rush through the prairies and then have a just over a week to spend exploring the Rocky Mountains before arriving in Vancouver.

So now onto the most important part of our trip - researching where all those geocaches are!

Hunting for caches!